Bloomberg News reports that Boeing Co. (NYSE: BA) set another sales record in 2007. While it's not yet clear whether Boeing sold more than its competitor, Airbus, the 1,413 commercial jets Boeing sold last year highlight the power of effective competitive strategy.

I'm in the middle of writing a book about Boeing and have found it fascinating to examine the competition between Boeing and Airbus. In the 1990s, Airbus decided that it could beat Boeing by building the biggest jumbo aircraft on the market. By contrast, Boeing -- which was then under pressure from Airbus -- listened to the airlines and heard them say that they were facing competitive pressure from low-cost, point-to-point airlines like Southwest Airlines Co. (NYSE: LUV) -- whose strategy I analyzed in Value Leadership -- and needed mid-range aircraft that were more fuel efficient.

Just when you think Airbus is about to finally assert itself -- perhaps right itself is the more appropriate phrase -- against Boeing Co. (NYSE:BA) in the commercial aviation sector, up pops another gremlin.

On Tuesday, word surfaced that Airbus' co-owners Germany and France were again at odds, this time over the size of expected job cuts at the world's second major commercial jet manufacturer.

France and Germany jointly control Airbus through ownership of its parent company EADS. EADS' shares closed Tuesday in Europe at €25.95, up 11 cents. Boeing's shares closed Tuesday at $91.03 up 9 cents.

French Prime Minister Dominique de Villepin said Tuesday he had talked with German Chancellor Angela Merkel about Airbus's difficulties and confirmed that the company is seeking to slash 10,000 jobs as part of its restructuring plan. German politicians suspect Toulouse-based Airbus's French management of forcing German workers to bear a disproportionate share of the cuts. Arnaud Lagardere, the head of a French coalition, does not deny that his country is trying to protect France-based jobs.